Software has become popular recently, which allows a user to not only send and receive e-mail messages on a personal computer, but also to keep an electronic address book of contacts and an electronic calendar with calendar information associated with upcoming events as well.
One of the most common problems for a new handset user is how to move their contacts from their previous handset or their computer to the new handset. Usually, a special program and cable is sold for a premium to do this.
Lately, programs that can do this over the air have been made available to handsets. For example, one scheme downloads contacts from a handset to a personal computer. The personal computer performs a conversion process to transform the contacts into a format suitable for the computer. The computer then transforms the contacts into a format suitable for a second handset. The personal computer then loads the converted contacts onto the second handset.
Another scheme uploads contacts from a handset to a server on the Internet. The server obtains format information from a second handset and if necessary converts the uploaded contacts into a format suitable for the second handset. The server then provides the converted contacts to the second handset.
These schemes are expensive and require either a personal computer or an Internet server as an intermediary between the two handsets. These schemes also require the intermediary to perform any needed conversions to make the contacts usable by the handsets. Therefore, what is needed is a system and method that reduces or overcomes these significant problems found in the current schemes as described above.